Jacket-type life-preserver



*0. H. Youme; J'ACKET TYPE LI FE PRESERVER. APPLICATION FILED, FEB. 4', 1919- awvewboz attow e1 Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

$4215 H 762g? e3 60AM UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CYRUS H. YOUNG, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE 'ROBINSON-RODERS (30., INC., OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

Application filed February 4, 1919. Serial No. 274,865.

To all whom it may concern: 4

Be it known that I, CYRUs H. YOUNG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Jacket-Type Life- Preservers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to life preservers which may be worn like a jacket without impeding the movements of the body.

The main object of my invention is to provide means for readily adjusting the waist measure of the life preserver to fit different persons varying considerably in size. A further'object is to so construct the garment that it will permit movements of the body in the waist region without the usual construction found in other life preservers. By leaving the arms free and providing forv an easy waist movement the life preserver can be worn with comfort even while at work. This freedom of movement also adapts this life preserver for use by aviators.

The construction will be understood and its advantages will be appreciated from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views of a life preserver embodying my invention.

The life preserver is of the well-known jacket or coat type, open centrally down the front, and havinga collar portion 2, which can be turned up around the head and secured by st'raps3 fastened across the front.

The outer cover or envelop may be madeof canvas or other suitable fabric and incloses pads of buoyant material such as kapok and preferably that which possesses the highest buoyancy and best water-resistant qualities known as Ilanasilk. The buoyant pads at 1* on each side of the chest part are the largest in order to cause the body to naturally tilt backwardly so that as the head is supported by the buoyant collar, which is filled with the buoyant material, it will be turned upwardly, thereby insuring the proper posture for breathing in case the person becomes exhausted or unconscious.

The buoyant pads at the waist portion 1 preferably extend across the front and around the sides to a line 4 at.about the center of the arm-holes 4. These waist pads extend circumferentially and are preferably divided into a plurality of pads separated by seams which are stitched through the outer cover and the lining. These seams provide several bending lines around the waist which permit the narrow pads to conform to all of the bending movements of the body, when swimming or when out of the water.

The buoyant pads at the back extend.

from the shoulder seam to the waist line, as indicated at 1 and are separated by an unpadded portion 1 along the central vertical portion. The small portions 1 over the shoulders is also unpadded. The entire waist portion 1 is unpadded.

For the purpose of adjusting the waist portlon to fit persons of different sizes while preserving the comfort and proper shape of the garment, I provide two stra s 6, 6 which encircle the waist and are eac secured at one point upon opposite sides of the waist respectively at 7 and 7. By means of this construction, when the free ends of the straps are drawn together at the front, the upper straps 6 will tend to pull the right side across the back toward the left, while the lower strap 6' will tend to pull the left side across the back toward the ri ht. The result of this combined action 0 the straps is to draw the unpadded portion 1 into plaits or folds in the manner indicated in Flg. 2. In order to permit this action and yet, to allow the pads 1 over the shoulder blades to maintain their proper position, I have provided an unpadded portion 1 between these rear pads, so that they may move toward each other as the waist portion is puckered or taken in by the pull on the straps. This narrow vertical unpadded strip 1 also permits the lower edges of the shoulder pads to move closer to each other than the upper edges, the manner of attachment of the construcsite sides of the garment and spaced apart vertically so as to leave a-band of material between them provides for an adjustment to different diameters at the upper and lower parts of the waist, thereby causing the garment to conform more nearly to the shape of the body. By leaving the entire rear porhe attachtion below the upper waist line unpadded, the waist portion may be adjusted to persons differing greatly in size without causing any discomfort and while maintaining the portion to cause the shoulder pads 1 to maintain a correct position for all adjustments of the waist portion.

I claim 1. A jacket-type life preserver having buoyant members at the front, across the chest and at the back across the shoulder blades, an unpadded portion extending across the waist at the back and straps or belts encircling the waist and secured to the jacket respectively upon opposite sides of the back. 1

.2. A jacket-type life preserver having buoyant members at the front, across the chest and at the back across the shoulder blades, an unpadded portion extending across the waist at the back, an unpadded portion extending longitudinally of the garment between the shoulder members at the.

back, and straps or belts encircling the waist and secured to the jacket respectively upon opposite sides of the back.

3. A jacket-type life preserver, comprising a cover or envelope of suitable fabric,

buoyant pads therein across the chest and waist portions at the front, and across the v shoulder blade portions at the back, said Waist pads comprising a plurality of members extending circumferentially andseparated by seams to permit lateral bending, an

CYRUS H. YOUNG. 

